Why I Don't "Like" Businesses On Facebook

I've noticed the last few months that more and more businesses are asking people to "like" them on their Facebook pages.  In return, you get access to special coupons or discounts.

This annoys me, because I tend to take words such as "like" and "friend" pretty seriously.  I try not to use them casually.  I try not to use them too frequently.  I think they're important words.  They're not generally words I would even think of applying to businesses or corporations.

Among the many sins of Facebook, I think the worst is that it's devalued and cheapened the meaning of "friend" for an entire generation.

I also don't like feeling that I've been offered a bribe.  Especially a bribe to cast a vote.  It may not be an actual election for a Governor or Senator or President, but on an emotional level it still feels just like I'm being asked to commit voter fraud, even if the actual vote being asked for is one I might have given without the bribe.

So when I see such a request, my response isn't to go to Facebook and click that "Like" button.  My response is to get annoyed.  And when I'm annoyed at a company, my tendency is to NOT buy their product or services, even if I've been their customer before.

I've seen this sort of thing from a number of businesses, but the specific instance that generated this post was having such an offer from the Science Fiction Book Club, where I'd get an extra discount for "liking" them on Facebook.

Hey, SFBC, I've been a member since 1975, and I've probably averaged at least a couple of hundred dollars per year in orders from you over all those years.  So if you want to offer me a discount, why not offer me a discount for being a good customer for decades? 

(And I get those kind of offers, in regular emails from SFBC, on a frequent basis.  I don't mind those; they feel like they are being offered because I've been a good customer for so long.  But to be offered a discount just to pump up their popularity on --ewww--  Facebook?  That pisses me off.  And when I'm pissed off, the last thing I'm going to reach for is my checkbook.)